Shoe sole attaching apparatus



Dec. 22, 1936. e. H. BARGE SHOE SOLE ATTACHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1934 INVENTOR BY 1 1 YFTORNE Y5,

Dec. 22, 1936. e. H. BARGE Y SHOE SOLE ATTACHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 8, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B1 W fW A TT AA'EKS.

Patented Dec. 22, 1936 PATENT OFFICE SHOE SOLE ATTACHING APPARATUS George H. Barge, Jamaica, N. Y., assignor to Barge Electric Shoe Cement Press, Inc.,'a corporation of New York Application August 8, 1924, Serial No. 738,911

22 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for attaching bottoms to shoes, and more particularly to presses designed for use in cementing or otherwise adhesively attaching leather or other soles to shoes, boots, or the like, wherein the lasted portions of shoes or the like and the soles to be secured thereto have been previously coated with an adhesive, the cemented parts assembled andthe assembly placed in the press and subjected to pressure until the cement or other adhesive has set and united the parts.

Presses of this character differ in detail of construction and mode of operation, but are intended to accomplish the same result. Briefly, the press illustrated in the accompanying drawings is substantially the same as that shown and described in my U. S. Patent No. 1,901,546, and comprises a hollow base which supports a flexible member forming a cushion on which the shoe'is adapted to be positioned and held under pressure during the cementing operation. Fluid, preferably water, is contained in the reservoir formed by the hollow base beneath the flexible cushion and is ideally suited for its purpose because of its displaceability to permit the cushion to conform to the shape of the shoe and yet form a substantially rigid support when pressure is applied. Moreover, due to its hydrostatic properties, the water distributes the pressure uniformly over the entire area of the sole. In the embodiment shown, an arm pivoted on the base extends over the cushion and carries toe and heel rests which engage the lasted shoe to press it against the cushion, the pressure being applied by springs placed under tension by a bell crank lever carried by the arm. In order to hasten the cementing operation, a heating unit is provided to maintain the water in the reservoir at a highuniform temperature, and the water, in this connection, is an ideal medium for uniformly transmitting heat to every point throughout the entire area of ,the shoe sole.

A press of the character described fulfills its intended purpose to a marked degree of perfection, except for the objectionable feature that the welt or sole extension receives no support from'the last, which is, of course, wholly within the shoe, and bends or turns up when pressure is applied. The bending of the welt not only made to devise supports for the welt and, although supports which have been developed may be satisfactory for the manufacture of shoes where the same supports are used always for shoes of the same size and last or shape, they are not entirely suitable for use in repair shops where seldom, if ever, shoes of the same size and last are operated upon successively.

It is the aim of the present invention to obviate this objectionable feature and, to this end, the invention provides a welt gripper or support which is flexible and self-adjustable to conform to the shape of the welt of a shoe of any ordinary size and last. Specifically, the welt gripper comprises a plurality of separate sections hingedly connected together for relative movement and forming a unitary whole of substantially horseshoe-shape. Springs associated with the sections normally maintain the gripper in collapsed condition with its end sections abutting one another, but the relatively movable sections render it flexible and expansible (antagonistically to the springs) for disposition around the toe of a shoe and in engagement with the welt, to the shape of which the gripper adjusts itself by the tendency of the springs to cause it to resume its collapsed condition. A spider carried by the arm overlying the cushion is adapted to engage the top edge of the welt gripper and support it to hold the welt from bending upwardly when pressure is applied, the spider being vertically adjustable so that it may be set to the correct height to maintain the edge of the sole in the horizontal plane of the central portion thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, the invention has been shown merely by way of example and in preferred form, and obviously many modifications and variations may be made therein which will still be comprised within its spirit. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or embodiment, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a press embodying the improved welt gripper;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking from left to right;

Fig. 3 is a view taken on the line {5-3 of Fig. 1, looking down from above;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the improved welt grip per; and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the gripper shown in Fig.4.

In the accompanying drawings. and referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the base I is hollow or dish-shaped to serve as a reservoir for the water. The cushion 2, which may be of any flexible material impervious to water, comprises a rubber diaphragm 3 and an overlying leather covering 4, the latter serving to protect the diaphragm from wear and to prevent it from stretching and possible rupture when the shoe is positioned thereon and placed under pressure; and the cushion 2 is held in place by having its edge clamped between the rim 5 and the correspondingly shaped band 6 fastened thereto, as by screws or'bolts I. The port 8 is provided in the base I for the admission and withdrawal of the water and is closed by a screw plug. In the compartment 9, located on the underside of the base and closed by a plate I 0, there is arranged the electrical heating element ll thermostatically controlled to maintain the water within the hollow base at the desired temperature at all times.

As will be observed in Fig; 2, when thepress is in use, the water in the base being displaceable allows the cushion 2 to conform to the shape of the shoe sole and, as previously stated, forms a substantially rigid medium when under pressure which, due to its hydrostatic and heat conducting properties, distributes pressure and heat uniformly over the entire area of the sole.

Turning now to the means for pressing the shoe l2 firmly down on the cushion 2; the pressure distributing arm or lever I3 is pivotally mounted on the base I, as at I4, at the forward end of the press and when in operative position extends fore-and-aft over the cushion 2, as shown in the drawings. Near its lower edge, the arm I3 is formed with a plurality of apertures l6 adapted to accommodate pins l1 and I8 by which posts l9 and 20, carrying toe and heel rests 32 and 33, respectively, are suspended, the pins being positionable in different apertures I6 to locate the rests nearer to or farther from each other for the purpose of adjustment to cooperate with shoes of difierent size. The bell crank lever 22 is pivotally mounted on the upper edge of the arm l3 to rock about the pin 23, its movement being limited by the stop I3 The short arm 24 of the bell crank lever 22 is formed with a series of notches 25 to receive a bail or link 26 which connects the ends of a pair of springs 21, the opposite ends of which are anchored in brackets 23 secured to the base I and which springs, when placed under tension by the rocking of the bell crank lever 22, exert the pressure which is distributed over the length of the shoe l2 by the arm l3 and through the medium of the water over the entire area of the sole. In order to maintain the bell crank lever 22 in any position to which it is rocked, a latch 29, pivoted on the free end of the short arm 24 of the lever, as at 30, is provided to engage in one of the series of notches 3| formed on the upper edge of the arm l3, the latch riding freely from one notch to another when the bell crank is rocked counterclockwise (Fig. 1), but engaging in one of the notches to resist the pull of the tensioned springs 21 tending to rock the bell crank lever 22 in the opposite direction.

The toe rest 32 and heel rest 33, carried by the posts I9 and 20, respectively, have each a screw connectionwith its particular post to render it capable of vertical adjustment. The heel rest 33 is formed at its lower end with the lug 34 adapted to engage in a recess in the last 35 for the purpose of locating the shoe properly in the press and forming a non-slip engagement with the last. The toe rest 32, on the other hand, as best shown in Fig. 2, comprises the head portion 36 carrying the pad 31 of rubber or other soft material adapted to engage the toe of the shoe and through the last 35 press the forward part of the shoe firmly down on the cushion 2. Formed integrally with the head 85 of the toe rest 32 is the stud 3B, which screws into the post l9 and which may be screwed up different amounts to adjust the toe rest vertically.

The press; as thus far described, is old and substantially the same as that shown and described in U. S. Patent No. 1,901,546, already referred to.

Coming now to the present invention: The improved welt gripper 40 comprises a plurality of separate sections A connected together to form a unitary whole, the sections differing in size and shape in accordance with the portions of the welt with which they are to engage. For example, in the region of the toe of the shoe where the curvature is smallest, three small sections a, a and a are located, these being curved more sharply than the remaining sections. The four sections a a a and a (two on each side) are adapted to engage the straighter portions of the welt and, therefore, are themselves substantially straight and of equal length; while the end sections a" and a are quite different both as to length and shape, the.former being adapted to engage with the nearly straight portion of the welt on the outer side of the shoe, whereas the latter is designed to engage the turned-in portion of the welt on the inner side of the shoe in the region of the arch. Each section is formed with fiat top and bottom surfaces A and A respectively, but it will be observed that the base portions are tapered inwardly, as at A to provide wide welt engaging surfaces and to enable them to fit in as closely as possible to the line of union of the welt and the shoe upper.

The sections A are joined together by pintle connections, best shown in Fig. 5, comprising interfitting arms A and A and detachable pins A Surrounding each pin and located between the arms A are torsion springs A the free ends A of which press against the outer side faces of adjacent sections and exercise themselves to maintain the gripper in collapsed condition, i. e., with the free ends of the gripper closed together so that the sections a" and a abut one another. With this arrangement, the sections are relatively movable and the gripper may be expanded against the force of the springs A for disposition around the welt of the shoe, the springs thereafter acting to render the gripper self-adjustable to conform to the size and shape of the welt. The sections A are also provided with stops A to limit the extent of their relative movement during expansion of the gripper; and it should be noted that the pitch of the stops on different sections, for example on sections a and a is difierent, so that the extent of relative movement of the different sections varies. Thus, in expanding the member, the end sections a" and a move considerably in relation to the sections a and a before their respective stops A engage the latter sections to limit their individual movement. Further expansion causes sections a", a and sections a a. to move as units until the sections a, a engage the stops A carried by sections a and a respectively, and so on. This arrangement renders the gripper sumciently expansible and flexible for disposition around the toe of a shoe without-excessive distortion of the gripper from its normal shape, so that it is positionable properly without extensive manipulation and care to determine the location of the sections A to the particular portions of the welt with which they are designed to engage. Also, the springs act individually on the sections, thereby insuring. that each section will receive the necessary spring influence to adjust it properly to the shape of the welt.

For pressing the welt and edge of the sole down on the cushion 2 at the same time and to the same extent as the remainder of the sole is pressed down by the toe rest 32, there is provided a three-legged spider A carried by the post l9 and adapted to rest on the top edge A of the welt gripper 40. The spider A is formed with an aperture A which fits loosely around a screwthreaded portion if! of the post l9, and a nut ll-i screwed on the threaded portion l9 is pro vided to determine the vertical location of the spider when the press is locked up, the arrangement rendering the spider adjustable vertically so that the pressure on the shoe through the toe rest 32 and the spider and welt gripper may be equalized to keep the entire shoe sole horizontal, thus obviating any localization of pressure either at the center of the sole or at its edge.

In the operation of the press, the improved gripper is disposed around the welt of the shoe either before the shoe is placed upon the cushion or afterward. The adjustment of the spider is only necessary when shoes of different sizes are being operated upon.

Although the welt gripper has been shown and described as a detached element of the press, obviously it could be connected to the spider without sacrificing its flexibility, or the spider could be formed with jointed legs which would permit the expansion and collapse of the welt gripper. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention contemplates a flexible, self-adjustable welt gripper adapted to conform to the shape of the welt of shoes of different size and last, whether the gripper be an attached or detached element of the press. Furthermore, the press may be adapted for attaching full soles to shoes or the like, it being shown herein as for attaching half soles since the welt gripper is associated only with the forward or welted portion of a shoe.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a member disposable around the welt of a shoe in substantially continuous contact with the welt and having side portions comprising each a plurality of sections hinged for lateral swinging movement to render the member expansible for adjustment to conform to the welts of shoes of different size, and means associated therewith and acting antagonlstically to the lateral movement of the sections to render the member resiliently expansible.

2. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a member having side portions comprising each a plurality of relatively movable sections hinged for lateral swinging movement and presenting a substantially continuous welt engaging surface, and means associated therewith and acting antagonistically to the lateral movement of the sections to render said sections resiliently movable.

3. A welt gripper for a shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a member disposable around the welt of the shoe and having side portions comprising each a plurality of hinged sections. and means associated with said member to render it self-adjustable to conform to the peripheral shape of the welt.

4. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a flexible member adapted for disposition around the welts of shoes of dif ferent size and last and having side portions comprising each a plurality of hinged sections, and means associated with said member to render it self-adjustable to conform to the peripheral shape of said welts.

5. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a vertically rigid and laterally flexible member composed of hinged side portions comprising each a plurality of separate sections arranged to form a unitary whole, said member being adapted for disposition around the welt of a shoe and being adjustable to conform to the shape thereof.

position around the welt of a shoe, and means 3 associated with said sections to render the member self-adjustable to conform to the peripheral shape of the welt with each section engaged therewith throughout its length.

8. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising side members formed each of separate sections of different size hinged to gether for relative movement, and spring means associated with said sections to render the gripper self-adjustable to conform to the shape of the-welt.

9. A welt gripper as set forth in claim 8, characterized by the fact that means is provided to limit the relative movement of the hinged sections in an outward direction and that the extent of relative movement varies as between different sections.

10. A welt gripper as set forth in claim 8, characterized by the fact that the sections differ in size and shape and the smaller sections are adapted to engage the welt in regions of sharpest curvature.

11. A welt gripper as set forth in claim 8, characterized by the fact that the sections are detachably hinged directly to one another.

12. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a toe portion and side portions each composed of a plurality of hinged sections, springs associated with adjacent sections and acting to maintain the sections in position to form a substantially horseshoe-shaped member, said sections being capable of relative movement to render the member expansible in a direction antagonistic to the action of the springs for disposition around the welt of a shoe, and stops to limit the relative movement of the sections and arranged so that the extent of expansive movement of different sections varies, said springs acting to move the sections in the opposite direction and render the member self-adjustable to conform to the shape of the welt. I

13. A welt gripper for shoe sole attachingapparatus, comprising a flexible unitary member having side portions comprising each a plurality of hinged sections arranged for lateral movement and formed to rest on the top surface of the welt, and means associated with said sections and acting antagonistically to the lateral movement of the sections to render the member resiliently :adjustable to conform to the peripheral shape of the welts of shoes of different size and last, said gripper being adapted to be applied as a free element in engagement with the top surface of the welt of a shoe and then positionable along with the shoe in a press and supported therein to hold the welt against bending when pressure is applied to the sole.

14. A shoe sole attaching press, comprising in combination a base, a shoe support carried by the base, means for exerting pressure on a shoe positioned on said support, and a gripper arranged in the press to engage the welt of the shoe, said gripper having side portions each comprising a plurality ofv hinged sections and being self-adjustable to conform to the shape of the welt, and means to support the gripper to keep the welt from bending when the shoe is subjected to pressure.

15. A shoe sole attaching press, comprising in combination a base, a shoe support carried by the base, means for exerting pressure on a shoe positioned on said support, a. gripper arranged in the press to engage the welt of the shoe, said gripper comprising hinged side portions having each a plurality of hinged sections capable of relative movement and spring means acting upon the sections to render the gripper self-adjustable to conform to the shape of the welt with which it may be engaged, and means to support the gripper to keep the welt from bending when the shoe is subjected to pressure.

16. A shoe sole attaching press as set forth in claim 14, wherein the welt gripper is a free element applied to the shoe before the latter is placed under pressure, and wherein the means on the press for supporting the gripper in position when the shoe is subjected to pressure is formed for cooperation with the welt gripper regardless of the shape assumed in conforming to the shape of the welt.

17. A shoe sole attaching press as set forth in its shape.

claim 14, wherein the welt gripper is a free element applied to the shoe before the latter is placed under pressure, and wherein the means for supporting the gripper when the shoe is subjected to pressure is adjustable to effect its proper cooperation with the gripper to keep the welt from bending.

18. A shoe sole attaching press, comprising in combination a base, a pad carried by the base for supporting a lasted shoe, a member overlying the pad, a detached welt gripper adapted to be disposed around the welt of the shoe, and means carried by said member for free engagement with the welt gripper, whereby the press may be used with or without the welt gripper, as required for shoes of different styles.

19. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a selfrcontained unitary structure providedwith side portions having a plurality of hinged sections rigidly connected except for lateral hinge motion.

20. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a self-contained unitary structure provided with side portions having a plurality of hinged sections rigidly connected except for lateral hinge motion, and presenting a substantially continuous welt engaging surface of a width at least suflicient to extent from the marginal edge of the welt to the welt crease and an upper pressure receiving surface.

21. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a self-contained unitary structure-provided with side portions having a. plurality of hinged sections, presenting a substantially continuous welt engaging surface of a width at least sufficient to extend from the marginal edge of the welt to the welt crease and an upper pressure receiving surface, said sections being formed with wide hinge bearings and pintled end to end to hold them in a common plane, whereby the member is rigid as a whole except for relative movement of the sections about their pivots.

22. A welt gripper for shoe sole attaching apparatus, comprising a self-contained unitary structure provided with a toe portion composed of small spring-pressed hinged sections and side portions composed of larger spring-pressed hinged sections, the springs rendering the gripper self-adjustable to conform to welts of shoes of different size and shape and acting to maintain GEORGE H. BARGE. 

